Jesus · c. AD 29
Chapter 34
Seventy Times Seven
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?”Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.
For parents
Jesus says that if anyone causes one of the little ones who believe in him to stumble, he would be better off sunk in the sea with a huge millstone hung around his neck (Matthew 18:6). He says it is better to cut off a hand or a foot that makes you stumble, or pull out an eye, than to be thrown into the eternal fire, the Gehenna of fire (18:8–9). In his story of a servant who would not forgive, the king orders the servant sold with his wife and children. The servant grabs a fellow servant by the throat and throws him into prison. In the end the king hands the servant over to the tormentors (18:25–34). It is told plainly, as Jesus says it.
That same hour, the came to with a question: “So who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
Jesus called a little child over and stood him in the middle of them. “I tell you for certain,” he said, “unless you turn and become as little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven at all.
“So whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Anyone who welcomes a little child like this one in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a huge hung around his neck and be sunk in the depths of the sea.”
“ to the world,” Jesus said, “because of what makes people stumble! Those things have to come, but woe to the person they come through!
“If your hand or foot makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it away. You are better off going into life missing a hand or lame than having two hands or two feet and being thrown into the eternal fire.
“If your eye makes you stumble, pull it out and throw it away. You are better off going into life with one eye than having two eyes and being thrown into the of fire.”
“Be careful not to look down on one of these little ones,” Jesus said, “because in heaven, I tell you, their always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. The came to save what was lost.
“What do you think? Suppose a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them strays. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and look for the one that strayed? If he finds it, I tell you for certain, he rejoices more over that one than over the ninety-nine that have not strayed.
“It is the same with your Father who is in heaven. He does not want one of these little ones to perish.”
“If your brother sins against you,” Jesus said, “go and show him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have your brother back.
“But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that every word can be proved by what two or three witnesses say.
“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he won’t listen to the assembly either, treat him like a or a .
“Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
“Again, I tell you for certain: if two of you on earth agree on anything you ask, my Father who is in heaven will do it for the two of you. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.”
Then came to Jesus. “Lord,” he said, “how often should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered him, “I tell you, not up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
“So the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When he started, a man was brought to him. He owed the king ten thousand .” Ten thousand talents was a huge sum: about three hundred metric tons of silver, or some sixty million . One denarius was a usual day’s pay for a farm worker.
“Because he couldn’t pay,” Jesus went on, “his master ordered him sold, with his wife, his children and all that he had, so that the debt could be paid.
“So the servant fell down on his knees in front of him. ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘have patience with me, and I’ll pay you back all of it!’ His master was moved with compassion for him. He let him go and forgave him the debt.”
“But that servant went out,” Jesus said, “and found one of his fellow servants, a man who owed him a hundred denarii.” That was about a hundred days’ pay, a little over a pound of silver. “He grabbed him and took him by the throat. ‘Pay me what you owe!’ he said.
“His fellow servant fell down at his feet. ‘Have patience with me,’ he begged him, ‘and I’ll pay you back!’ But the first servant would not. He went and threw the man in prison until he paid back what he owed.
“When his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sad. They went and told their master all of it.
“Then his master called him in. ‘You wicked servant!’ he said. ‘I forgave you that whole debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, the way I had mercy on you?’
“His master was angry, and he handed him over to the tormentors until he paid back all that he owed.
“So my heavenly Father will do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your hearts for the wrongs he has done.”